Isulk set two records with the AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (Windsor) CPU

German overclocker isulk continues his exploration of the AM2 platform. This time, the enthusiast has earned two gold medals in the AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ dual-core CPU model ranking.

This particular CPU is based on the 90nm Windsor core, featuring 1MB of L2 cache per core and a base clock speed of 2000MHz.

Extreme overclocking the Athlon 64 X2 3800+ is notoriously difficult. Here are some of the main challenges:

• The 90nm Athlon 64 X2 chips are susceptible to ColdBug (intolerance to extremely low temperatures), making liquid nitrogen cooling difficult without specific precautions. A custom phase-change cooling system or dry ice is typically required;

• The Athlon 64 X2 3800+ specifically uses a low 10x multiplier. This means successful overclocking demands an extremely expensive, practically ultimate motherboard capable of handling a 350MHz system bus (or higher), along with high-frequency DDR2 RAM – a crucial component;

• And, of course, high-frequency DDR2 memory itself is essential;

For the German enthusiast, the system bus frequency reached a hefty 339.9MHz and 359.9MHz, depending on the benchmark. Combined with the 10x multiplier, this yielded CPU speeds of 3400MHz and 3600MHz. Memory clocks hit 1133MHz and 1200MHz respectively. These are impressive figures, especially given the AM2 platform's specific challenges.

Benchmarks and results:

Unfortunately, isulk maintains his usual secrecy about the test bench components. The GIGABYTE GA-MA790FX-DQ6 motherboard is the only exception, which he consistently mentions for every notable AM2 platform result. While we'd naturally prefer to know the specific RAM model, the enthusiast only provided the manufacturer: Crucial.

However, it's crucial to understand that the motherboard forms the backbone of any test setup and is key to achieving successful results. If you're looking to replicate or exceed these benchmarks, you'll need to source a similar, or ideally the exact same, board, along with RAM capable of stable operation at 1200MHz and beyond.

Source: isulk's HWBot profile